Open Your Eyes
by SarnaKiro
Summary: An young man drops by requesting help to retrieve his sister. When the two crash at their place, it becomes more and more apparent that both of them have crazy enemies, messed up pasts, and unforgiving gifts.
1. Keevor

"speaking"

_thinking, dreaming, flashback_

**emphasized**

I do not own Teen Titans and probably never will. This story is a lot lighter than what I normally write, but I needed a break from all the serious stuff. To a point at least, this is still kinda depressing.

**----------------------------**

"But that doesn't make and sense, Star," said Robin, "The gravitational pull on a structure of that size would be too great for it to-"

**BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!**

Cyborg leapt down the stairs at such a fast rate that he was barely able to stop himself from running the two talking teens over. "We have a security breech on the base floor," he panted.

Robin gave BeastBoy an odd look as he came down the steps.

"Aw! Com'on, you cant really think everything that goes on in this place is my fault!" he yelled.

"Pretty much," muttered Raven as she rose through the floor. BB just glared at her. "Thanks."

"Anyways," said Cy, bringing their attention back to the still blaring alarm. "The breach was done at sea level."

"Are you sure is wasn't AquaLad this time?" Robin questioned.

"Positive," he replied. "DNA scanners say it's someone new. Whoever it is, their not in the archives of Goods of Bads."

Robin thought for a moment. "Alright, team, let's get our uninvited guest and kick him out, but be careful. However they got in was either ingenious or powerful."

"Or neither," came a voice from behind. They all spun around to see a lanky, teenage boy standing a few inches shorter than Cyborg looking them up and down. His white hair was in a low-lying ponytail and two, long strands of it fell into his narrow, eyes. The color of his eyes was rather odd. Where was normally white was sky blue and his pupils were an odd shade of metallic navy, giving him a alienish look to match the slightly visible blue veins under his pale skin that was covered by black spirals and swirls that some how managed to connect with each other without causing a jumbled mess.

He wore a white tank-top, decorated with metallic blue designing, black pants, and a navy metal bracelet covered most of each lower arm. He was bare foot revealing more odd tattoos.

Robin sprung forward, "Titans, **go!**"

"What! Whoa, WHOA, **WHOA!" **The intruder's eyes went wide as saucepans. "**WAAAAIIIIIIIIIIIIIIITTTT! Let me explain!"**

Everyone stopped dead in their tracks. Starfire extinguished her lights. "Tell me, why should we not harm you for breaking into our 'T'?"

"Yeah!" added Cyborg still holding his sonic cannon steady. "You can't come set off my alarms without breaking something."

"Oh," the teen laughed nervously, "You must mean this." He pulled a 'T' shaped door bell out of his pocket, glancing nervously at the frayed wires.

Star blinked and floated behind the newcomer. "Is that not the bell for the ringing of the door?"

An image of an entire day spent with Starfire joyously ringing the doorbell after it was installed ran through the Titans heads. It wasn't pleasant.

"Yes...um...well...I tried to ring it when I got here...but I, um, got carried away and-uh, broke it when it didn't work after a half-hour. It...um ...kinda looks like something chewed on cords." He pointed to the fringed wires.

BeastBoy shrank under the evil eyes of his fellow team mates.

"Tell me, oh new comer with white hair, what is your name."

"And, more importantly," stated Robin, "Why your here."

The young man took a deep breathe in. "My name is Keevor. I'm from the planet Atraforn."

Raven lowered herself to the ground. "We can trust him, Robin."

"Huh," said Robin and BeastBoy in unison.

She sighed rolling her eyes. "Atraforns are inventors. Their natural way of thinking doesn't allow destruction without a strong, honest reason. It would take years of corruption to force one of them to think other wise and even then, his markings would disappear once he became deceitful."

"What if his purpose is for a friend, and it's a trap?"

"Then his marking's wouldn't be as noticeable."

"Couldn't they paint them on," suggested Cyborg.

She groaned. "No the pattern is their name that only they can right and since it's also on their backs it can never be replaced," Raven shrugged. "Plus it's impossible to redo it without the older marks causing scars."

"Well, what if-" but Keevor cut BB off. "As much as I'd like to prove myself to you," he said his smooth voice quickly becoming a great deal stronger. "I need your help to get my sister back."

"No offence, but," Robin spoke, "Why come to us?"

"Because," the alien muttered. "She's in your town."

The team looked at each other as one and had a huddle.

"**Okay**," said BeastBoy, "What's the plan."

"I think we should help alien Keevor find his sister that is lost."

"We have no reason to question him... yet," added Raven.

"AND," commented Cyborg, "He's in our city."

"True," mulled Robin, "If they're willing to kidnap for there purposes and then hide, then chances are their reasons are not beneficial for anyone." He took a deep breathe. "All in favor of going, say ' I ',"

A round of agreement soon followed.

"OH, what joyous a moment," said Starfire raising hirer into the air. She swooped over and hugged Keevor tightly. "We have gained a new friend."

"I hope," Keevor choked, "That this means you have agreed to help me."

"Yes, **yes**, indeed friend Keevor." She continued to swing him around. "We have come to the 'choice' of helping you."

"Great," he gagged, "And I'm assuming you are Starfire?"

That got him dropped instantly. Surprisingly though, he landed quite easily on his feet.

"You mean," mumbled Star, "You do no know of my name?"

Keevor looked slightly embarrassed. "No, I just got a quick mention of your names from the local police."

"The police," questioned Cyborg.

"What were you doing at the police?" said BeastBoy.

"My planet is a good distance from this one, so it has little information on its current political standings. But almost all continents have a law system of some sort. When I went to yours, they suggested I come to you. Cyborg is a obvious, and a I was ...um, **told** of Starfire's warm welcomings." The Tamaranian gave a bubbly laugh. "Other than that though, I'm at a bit of a loss."

"Name's BeastBoy," he pointed a thumb at himself.

"BB for short." added Cyborg. "I'm also the mechanic."

"I'm Robin."

"Raven."

The Atraforn smiled. "Nice to meet you all." He shook hands with them all except for Raven. When he got to her, he didn't even bother to hold out his hand. Instead he gave her a deep bow and a thankful smile. The girl from Azarath blushed slightly and nodded her head.

Keevor gave a look once around the room. "Not to be rude, but could we leave now? I have no clue what they're doing to her."

Robin nodded. "Sure thing. Do you have any idea what we're up against?"

"Just the basic guards, guns, evil people rays. There was too much for me to go in there alone." He looked slightly irritated. "Plus she'd be all over my butt if I got caught too."

He continued to nod. "So the basic attack. Do you have a map we can use?"

"No, but I can draw you one."

"I don't know, Robin, that sounds kinda iffy," commented Cyborg.

"No, really, it's good. I have a photographic memory."

"...something just dawned on me," said BeastBoy, "Do you even have any superpowers?"

"No."

**_"WHAAAAAAATTTTTTTTT!"_** they all yelled.

"Other than lifting weights, I have no extra body strength. But I do pick up weapon fighting styles very quickly. Plus once I read or see something, I can pull it up without a second of hesitation."

Robin sighed, "I of all people shouldn't be judgmental in this situation, but are you sure you shou-"

"I'm not staying here."

"Dude," said BB, "You just said your sister would-"

"I've been tracking her for two years. They just now got the brains to up their system. I've broken into four different bases in the last six months. This is not something you can kick me out of."

"Fine," muttered Raven, "What **can** you do?"

Keevor smiled and pulled a small, folded bag out of his pocket. Slowly he opened up, and opened it up, and opened it up. The groups eyes continued to grow wider as he kept unfolding until what at first appeared to be a small leather square now was a backpack at arms length. He opened up the top and pulled out some daggers, then shurkens, two long daggers, a set of three katanas, a pair of battle axes, a chain scythe, a whip, a long sword, a broad sword, bow and arrows, nunchucks, even a **lance. **He stopped suddenly and looked at them. "These are the weapons I have mastered. Would you like me to move on to the ones I almost have?"

Crickets chirped in the background.

"...um...I think he proved his point," Cyborg murmured.

Keevor gave a devilish smile. "Then I'll draw that map."

**----------------------------**

Starfire walked in the front of the group, lighting the way. "Am I heading for the right direction, friend Keevor?"

The alien was squinting at the sketchy, yet detailed map. "Yes, I'm sure of it."

Cyborg gave a nervous glance around the damp tunnel around them. "Are you sure this is secure, Key? This place isn't even on the city records."

"This place was created before this city was created. It was a town then and these passages were under the houses in case of fires."

"...where did you learn that?"

He smiles at his newly acquired nickname. It was nice to know they trusted him so quickly. "I broke in here before, but I only got so far into the tunnels before I hit a dead end. So I went back out, found the library and looked up some history and old maps as well as new ones. Basically I memorized them all before coming to Titan Tower."

"Wow," said BeastBoy looking impressed. "That must have taken forever!"

"You need to clean out your ears," muttered the floating bird.

"What's that supposed too mean!" He yelled ignoring the fact that the new comer was shaking his head.

"He has a photographic memory, remember?"

"Oooohhhh."

Raven rolled her eyes.

"We're here," murmured Keevor, his face suddenly growing fierce.

"Everyone remember the plan?" asked Robin.

There was a round of 'yeah's.

Raven muttered her spell and slowly raised the ceiling up as Cyborg cut it out about two yards above his head. Starfire raised the one's out that couldn't fly and set them softly on the dark stone floor.

All around them was mechanical equipment. Computers covered all the walls from top to bottom. Large screens seemed to be randomly placed in the open, sterile room. In the direct center of the room was a long cylinder object covered by a great cloth.

Keevor pulled out a shurken from the pouch now attached to a belt he had borrowed from Robin (this one was still the metal color, rather than yellow). With several swift movements he through it at different heights, checking for censors. After several minutes, he became satisfied and ran to the cylinder with foot steps so silent that it was eerie. He took a deep breathe and pulled back the curtain just as th rest of the group got there. They weren't ready for what they saw. Neither, unfortunately, was Keevor.

"Hello," said a man sitting in the seat behind the glass. "You must be Keevor." He looked at the rest of the group. "And the Teen Titans? Odd you never asked for help before." The man shrugged and the glass dropped. "Oh, well. More things to use against our precious designer."

The alien's eyes grew enraged at the last comment and he sprung through the glass at the man grabbing him by the shirt as he ignored the cuts on his body. "Who. **Are.** You?"

"Why, me? I'm just a scientist looking for an easy payday." He flipped the alien over his chair and the fight was on. Soldiers came out from behind sliding computers and the Titans did what their name suggested. They reeked havoc.

"Where is she?"

"I don't-" he dodged a swing of Keevor's swing, "have a clue (shift) what you're talking (dodge) about," he panted with a disturbing sneer across his face.

"SURE, I BELIEVE YOU!" He swore at him quite loudly.

The man grinned looking over the distracted boy's shoulders, watching the movement of his companions as he calculated his next move. The moment he was sure they all had their hands full, he pulled out a dagger of seemingly no where and stabbed it into Keevor's side with a maniac laugh.

"Friend Keevor!" Sirens sounded all around them and screams could be heard through the south wall. Keevor dropped to his knees. Something was banging against the wall. The Titans fought to get to their fallen comrade. Indents could now be seen. Robing landed a punch square in the white jacket man who turned his head to stare at the things coming out of the wall. A man ran out of a computer and began yelling, "We're losing control of her vitals, she's too stressed and her powers are out of control, Dr. Phonit."

Suddenly Keevor gave an evil laugh. "Now, you've done. Gone and ticked her off while she's not fully awake. Blew up our house last time I did that and it was **made** to sustain her anger."

The man blanched giving the boy on Cyborg's back and evil glare. "It doesn't matter," he jumped into one of those odd computers that everyone seemed to some through but his voice remained. "I have the blueprints for what I need."

"This place is about to cave in!" BeastBoy said, covering his head with his arms.

"No," said their new friend, "My sister won't let it." And as if by cue, the ceiling stopped shaking. "See," he muttered. "Now if you would be so kind as to walk though the nearly falling down wall, we could all get some rest."

They all looked at each other. It had been a short yet chaotic struggle and no one had escaped without a few good cuts.

"Alright," said Robin. "Let's get your sister and we **all** can go sleep."

Keevor gave him a thankful smile.

**-------------------------------**

This is not what they had expected. The way Keevor had spoke of his sister, they had expected her to be a young girl, which the figure in front of them wasn't even close.

A teen, that was obviously done growing, hung suspended in the water by metal cords that sank into her skin. The deepest appeared to be one going under her jawbone that was still bleeding lightly. Her close weren't much more than a bikini and showed her curves off quite nicely.

But that's not what got to them. The physical similarities between Keevor and the woman behind the glass was snow white hair. Then it ended and became a completely different story. While her brother was lanky, her body was finely tuned. She had no markings that could be seen, and if she had any, no one was going to look for them. He features were soft, not sharp. But the most surprising was that, instead of having snow white skin, hers was extremely dark. Darker than Cyborg's even.

Keevor slid off his friend's back and slowly walked up to the glass. "Nevaka," he whispered, knocking gently on the glass. "Wake up, my dear sister." A slight shudder ran through the girl's frame. "Come on sis it's me. Open those eyes." She squinted her eyes together and snapped them open to reveal bright hazel orbs. Markings of the same, near gold color faded onto the skin in main areas like her torso, shoulders, feet, hands, and under the eyes. The glass shattered and water spilled onto the group and Nevaka fell to the floor coughing.

Her brother, despite his own injuries, slowly began pulling the metal strands out of random body parts they had been inserted into.

_Dang, _thought Robin as he looked at the shuddering teen in Keevor's arms, _ Now I know why he was so intent on getting her as soon as possible._

Just as he pulled the last cord out, Nevaka gave one last rid shattering cough and focused her eyes. She gave on glance around the room and began speaking in a strained voice. "What are you doing here? Did you actually drag someone else into my problems? More than one person? Why are you bleeding?" She looked into his ashamed face and sighed, lowering her already quiet voice even lower, yet now it was calm. "You didn't really take a head on approach did you? Darnit, Key, I told you not to-...WHAT THE HECK AM I **WEARING!**" She jumped up, wide eyed, only to collapse and have Cyborg catch her. She took great breathes and looked at her legs as though they had betrayed her. "How long have I been gone?"

Keevor didn't answer, "Nev, just don't over react...but you've ...um...been, uh, asleep...forabouttwoyears," he rushed and then covered his head.

"What!" she squeaked and the room around them gave a dangerous creak.

Raven stopped floating in front of Keevor. "Alright spill the beans. There is no way she is an Atraforn."

"Wha!" she said in a sad attempt to yell, "You didn't tell them I was adopted into your family? What other vital information did you forget to tell them? I'm surprised they didn't rip your head of and use it as a toilet bowel scrubber to clean up their-" Cyborg placed a firm hand over her mouth.

"You just came out of a comma like state. You should rest your voice."

Keevor flushed in abasement as he watched his sister slowly drift to sleep in Cyborg's arms. "I'm sorry, I was so worried about her...you see, she was abandoned when she was still an infant. I was only a bit older...we guessed about a year. My parents took her in a little after my fifth birthday, so I've know her for twelve years... I was so flustered I forgot she wasn't my blood."

Raven stared at him for a minute then nodded, hiding her eyes back under her hood.

Starfire floated around the uneasy Cyborg as he handled the girl who was only a few inched shorter than him. "So...what is sh-OH! **SHE IS A MECHIAN! **(pronounced meck-ian) What a glorious race! So inventive are the Mechians!" Star continued her appraisal as Keevor relaxed.

Robin made a move to go help his new friend but stopped seeing Raven's thoughtful features. "Something wrong, Raven."

She glanced at him. "...no..."

Robin shrugged and walked towards Keevor.

"Not yet," she muttered glancing at the two new comers. "Not yet."


	2. Nevaka

Chapter 2

Cyborg cracked his neck and looked down at the young woman on the medical table before him. Her face was calm, even in her current unstable state. Every muscle on her body was well tuned, but still very smooth, even her hands. And after how Keevor had spoken of her, he was expecting either a tall, Viking like woman, or a small woman with a heck of an attitude. From how little he'd seen of her in movement, she was a balanced blend of both.

Hooking the last of the IV wires up, he walked through the sliding doors. Waiting outside was the group, most staring worriedly at Keevor who was sitting on the bench with is face in his free hand, his other in a sling to allow the wound in his shoulder to heal. The Atraforn glanced up at Cyborg. His normally pale face seemed to have lost all color entirely and the blue veins were easily visible underneath. The pale moonlight through the window behind him was no help either. "Is she going so be alright?" he asked feebly.

Cyborg nodded, remembering the anger that had flickered behind Keevor's eyes the he had been asked to leave. "Her vitals are steady. The sudden pull from her two year sleep probably just acted a great deal like jetlag. Her brain is trying to catch up with her body."

The alien relaxed visibly. "Thank goodness."

Robin looked at him. "What are you going to do when she wakes up?"

Keevor flinched, as though the idea was painful. "I'm not sure. I left a lot behind. Hurt a lot of people -mentally, not physically-" he added quickly seeing their looks, "Other than my intermediate family, no one really understood why I wanted to search for her."

"Why?" Robin pried gently, confused by the unreadable look on the new comers face.

Keevor looked at the ground. "While my people are just, we have little need for the outside world. So my sister was often," he paused trying to find the right word, "Looked down upon for her different origins. There was little need for an idealist in a world where the main goal is collect information, not generate it."

"But," spoke Starfire, her voice barely above a whisper, "Why? Why would the not want your sisters ideas because of her place of birth? Were they not for the benefit of the Atraforn planet?"

He nodded. "But they required change. While our people have a shield around the planet, there is no defense other than that. Her logical thinking spoke out against it, said we were weak against any attackers, but she was drowned out by the fanatical peace lovers."

"It's not like there's is nothing wrong with peace?" Raven questioned darkly.

Keevor looked up at her, his eyes slightly wide. Now that the pressure had passed, he was becoming hard to read. "Of course not. But to the point of ignorance is imbecilic."

Cyborg nodded. "We have five layers of security here, and I'm still working on making it better."

"They became angry when they found out Nevaka was teaching my family how to fight with weapons. They saw it as treason." He barely got the last sentence out through everyone talking at once.

"She what?"

"She looks not like a warrior!"

"She's barely got enough muscle mass to lift and average size sword, let alone a lance!"

"How did she learn all that when she was stuck on your planet!"

"What do you mean treason?" asked Raven coldly. This question cut through the thick air like a razor.

Keevor flinched under her stare. "Such actions are considered a threat to peace, and hence -treason."

Raven stared at him. "So, in other words, they didn't want you to go after her because she was basically a traitor in their eyes?" He nodded. "So how did you come to here?"

"My parents owned their own library, Lady from Azarath." He smile gently when the pale skinned girl took her turn to have her eyes widened slightly. "It earned a great deal of money and they allowed me to take one of their ships and go look for her."

"Will they allow you to go back to the place of your birth?" Starfire murmured.

"Even if they did... I don't want to force that on my family again. There are several planets kind to aliens. Perhaps I will ask where Nevaka would like to go."

Robin looked around the group. Even Raven seemed to have grown slightly fond of their odd friend, despite her hidden distrust of his story. But Nevaka...she was a different story. While Robin saw no problem with the older teen joining the group, the strange girl seemed to make Raven uneasy, and they knew nothing of the way she looked at things. "Perhaps," the leader spoke, choosing his words carefully, "The people here will come to accept her as she heals."

Keevor grinned. "You are very good with words." Robin looked slightly ashamed, but his new friend just shook his head. "I understand. But I should warn you now, Nevaka is a bit different. She likes to confuse people to see what their reaction will be just so she knows what makes them think. She will not push you to tell her things that will make you uncomfortable, but any attempt to figure her out will only result in her twisting it to her advantage. Don't give her a reason to mistrust you, while she is accepting at first, betray that trust and you could not ask for a more cunning person to fight with. While you think you are learning about her, she will be finishing your sentences by the end of the week."

"She sounds..." BeastBoy couldn't find a word to describe it.

The pale youth just laughed lightly. "Don't get me wrong, once she understands you, nothing but you could turn her thoughts to harming you, even in just a prank. Her words are sharp in anger, but her smile is genuine." He smiled slightly. "I have no doubt that she'll get along with you all very well soon." He yawned.

Robin seemed to relax. "Alright, let's get you to bed and rest that arm." He turned to look at Raven. "Would you please take him to one of the rooms near yours. They're the closest to the medical room."

Raven nodded and looked at Keevor. "Follow me," she said and led the way down a hall. Once they others began to go their separate ways she asked, "What kind of room do you want?"

"One with little light would be nice."

The cloaked girl stopped and gave him an odd look. "I would have never had guessed that."

"Well," he smiled, looking tired for the first time, "I was a bit stressed from traveling. Now that the adrenaline is gone, I need time to think, and that can only be done in a quiet, dark place."

"Consider me impressed. You never struck me as the _creepy_ kind."

The Atraforn just laughed. "My people are librarians! If there's no one creepier than a librarian, I wouldn't be surprised."

Raven's eyes softened as she opened a door only a few down from her own. The room was of medium size. The few lights that glowed were from dim lamps and random candles. The shades on the walls -when they weren't covered with dark steel shelves, tables, or odd dressers- were dark shades of blue. The metal framed bed was covered in forest green sheets. The carpet was gray and matched the ceiling and furniture.

Keevor, walking around the room, turned with a wide smile to the cloaked teen in the door way. "It's perfect."

"I figured this would be a good room for you if you ended up staying."

"Yes," he agreed with a vigorous nod. "The shelves are would hold books of any size. And the desk that slides out of them is perfect for memorizing quickly."

"Before I leave you to your sleep, can I ask you one thing?" questioned Raven gliding up to him.

"Shoot," Keevor said, his smile becoming slightly mugged by relief and battle fatigue.

"What was your sisters first words when she met you?"

The smile faded from the youth's face as he looked the girl from Azarath directly in the face. " 'I'm sorry'," he whispered. As he spoke to explain the girls perplexed look, she could see images in the back of her mind.

"She was around two when mother found her, yet she easily kept up with me in wits -a common trait in her kind I'm told- but I spoke little to her when my parents brought her in. She never talked." A picture of a young form of Nevaka ran through Raven's mind. She had an indifferent look about her as she sat at a diner table with Keevor and what she thought to be his parents. His mother smiling. His father flinty in appearance.

"I was an only child and part of me felt like I wanted to kill her out of jealousy from the attention she drew from my mother. It only grew when they adopted her." Another memory: Nevaka sitting at a desk with and elegant woman with silvery hair and purple eyes leaning over her -a proud smile as she looked down on her new daughter's sketching.

"She hugged my mother one day and... I said some things when we were alone later on that were very cruel. I hit her when she didn't reply. She just smiled warmly after I struck her, ignoring the blood trickling from her mouth and started crying softly. All she said was 'I'm sorry' over and over." Nevaka sat in what appeared to be a moonlit forest just after a rain. Despite a large hand print on the side of her quickly swelling features, she was smiling sadly as tears wheeled down her cheeks. The pain in her eyes when she opened them was so great it made Raven choke.

"I wanted to die." Keevor grimaced, pained both by the surprised face staring at him through purple eyes and the memories floating in his mind. "I never looked at her differently -like the rest of my world wanted me too- after that, and I never hit her again unless we were training. For the longest time... she only spoke to me. I could never figure out why." An image of his sister in a tree, laughing at her older brother innocently with the sun reflecting off her hair as she threw the best fruit she could find at his confused features came by. "I never forgave myself either, though she never mentions it." He looked anguished and looked away. "May I rest now?"

The female teen looked at Keevor sadly. She stood and walked away, stopping at the door as it slid open. "So coming after her was repentance?

"No... she's my little sister. And I love her more than my own life."

Raven nodded, pulling up her hood and walked out, door closing behind her. She was finally satisfied with his explanation and convinced that -despite his looks- he was nothing like the dragon that had hurt.

When she got to her room though, she smiled warmly. _What an odd man. That was such an odd gift, allowing me to see into his soul like that. Yet, I think I'm going to be very sad if he leaves. If only because he doesn't hide too much behind words and riddles._

**---------------------------**

He was alone. I had an eerie ring to it. Then again, Robin liked being able to think by himself. Perhaps that is why he got along with Raven a bit more than the others. But being alone with these thought was the opposite of what he had planed. Thinking often leads you to what you least want to face. Odd how that works.

He did **not** want to think poorly of his new temporally teammate, but he still kept drifting back to that. Keevor was just plain suspicious in appearance, yet his motives and words were genuine, and he had to think before answering their bombarding questions, so it wasn't like he had a story memorized for them. Yet, it still worried him having a possible threat- no, **two** possible threats in the Tower while his friends were peacefully asleep.

He felt like he could trust Keevor with his life. Heck, he even wanted to be close friends with the Atraforn. But that was what worried him.

_Why am I getting so attached so quickly?_ His mind flew to Terra and Malchior and it rejected his thoughts of immediate friendship instantly.

His brow furrowed further as his train of though continued on such things.

So it was no surprise when he jumped at a kind voice.

"Robin...are the...'nerves' getting to you?" asked Starfire.

The martial arts master stared at her, "Yeah, I guess they are."

"May I... join you?"

"Of course," he said with a genuine smile.

They sat in silence. Much longer than Robin had expected Starfire to keep. It was comforting in an eerie sort of way as the moon slowly shifted away from the great room.

"Robin?" the Tamaranian whispered. It took a moment for Robin to sense the worry in her voice.

"What's wrong, Star?"

"The girl... Nevaka... what if she is not the person Keevor was led to believe. What if she wakes up and places one of the 'bombs' or tries to attack friend Keevor for ruining her perfectly evil plan? I do not want to think like this Robin, it scares me." Starfire gave an involuntary shudder.

"It's alright, it only means that you care for us. It's not a bad thing." He placed a hand on her shoulder.

"But it deprives me of the sleep! I can't stand the thought. I woke up screaming..." she stopped but Robin could tell she had more to say. "But, I can't push her away, not after seeing her treated like an a mere animal."

The youth next to her heaved a sigh, "I understand, Star, **believe me** I understand."

The girl turned to look a him and smiled weakly, "Thanks, Robin."

"No prob-" he stopped, surprised by the head of silky red hair flowing off his shoulder. Robin smiled and placed an arm around her shoulders. "...lem," he finished quietly.

**----------------------**

Cyborg grumbled as he worked on his car, a metal mask over his face. At least that he **knew** he could fix. "Oh, so that's what's wrong with ya!" he grinned, fixing the last broken piece and sliding out from underneath the vehicle. The young man stopped stiff when he heard the door slide shut quietly. None of the Titans would be in the garage that late. He got to his feet quickly and looked around. Nothing. With a cautious movement he picked up the wax and began to polish his car.

Slowly, he began to think he was just paranoid. There were no more sounds and his scanners indicated that no one of human size was there. Cyborg began to hum as he worked.

An alarm went off in his head. Something was moving quickly at his head. The android turned around just in time to keep the large pipe from hitting his head.

Standing before him, dressed in bandages and a crisp white sheet was Nevaka holding a large hunk of metal that would be way to heavy for a normal person to carry around.

"Whoah! Calm d-"

"Save it for someone how gives a crud!" she stated fiercely in a still hoarse voice as she somehow managed to pull her makeshift weapon out of Cyborg's strong grip and swing swiftly at his head again. He ducked causing her to bring it back around and swing in a perfect vertical line.

Suddenly, he was very glad that his body reacted the way it did, otherwise he'd be brainless. With a sharp movement, he bent the bar and thrust it out of her hands, grabbing Nevaka's wrists and holding her off the ground as best he could. This woman was **tall!**

Her eyes were manly gold, but unlike before there was a lot more gray than green.

"Darnit! He improved his darn robots!" the Mechian growled, trying to kick him without seriously harming herself. Wasn't gonna happen any time soon.

"Robot!" Cyborg cries indignantly. "I'm no robot!"

"Well, excuse me, Mr. Metal Face!" She was tired. Her body was beginning to wear out already.

"Listen if you'd just calm down-"

"So you can put me back in a tank? Heck no!"

"Listen! I don't work for-" but she swung her feet upward in a show of sheer skill and kicked the mask off that the android had forgot he had been wearing.

Nevaka's eyes went wide. "Woah... robot on steroids."

"I'M NOT A ROBOT!"

The Mechian blinked. "Dr. Phonit.." she made a gagging noise, "**Does** have other human test subjects, the monster."

"Your optimism is highly appreciated," Cyborg grumbled.

"So how many did it take before he got one to look natural?"

He nearly beamed at the comment, "Why thank y- HE DIDN'T MAKE ME!"

She blinked again, vibrant green taking over the steel in her irises. "Do I... know you?"

'Yes! You're brother requested our help."

"In which I promptly berated him for once I was free, I hope?"

"...yes?" He was thoroughly confused.

"Good. One less thing fore me to have to do."

"Dare I venture why?"

"I told him not to come, the dimwit. Who knows how many times the idiot nearly got himself in... did you guys say two years?"

"Yep."

"In two years. My guess would be about four times a month."

'That would be ninety-six times."

Nevaka raised an eyebrow and cocked her head. "So...your a Cyborg?"

"Yep." He fought to keep the groan out of his voice. He knew what was next.

"What's your name?"

Well, at least she accepted him as a living being to a degree. "Cyborg."

"Fitting," she said without missing a beat.

"..."

"Such naming is common on Atraforn."

Realizing that her native tongue probably wasn't English, he began,

"... a lot of people name their kids after things, but not-"

"-Literate." she cut in. "Really, it is."

"So what's yours translate into?"

Nevaka gave a wispy smile. "Abandoned."

"That's... nice."

"Better than Anian."

Cyborg gave her a puzzled look.

"Mechian. It would get very confusing. There are outsiders quite often from Mecha."

"I see."

"Um...sorry about the... pole. Thing."

"No damage, no worries. Life moves on."

"You sure?" her voice was starting to come back. It was nothing special, but it was a pleasant relief from the constant peppy, dark, serious, and joking tones about him. Not that he minded, it was just nice to have another option on his ears.

"Yeah," he nodded.

"Then...um, could you let me down?"

With a sudden blush, Cyborg realized that he still had her arms pinned above her head. With a strained chuckle, he dropped her wrists and jumped back.

His blush only increased when she smoothed out the bed sheet she was wearing as a dress. She looked up him and blinked, quickly becoming a signal that she was thinking, "Sorry. I never thought about the dress of this planet. Where are we?"

"Earth," he stated too quickly as she sat on a rail.

"Well... this was common at one point in several places, but... this climate is too cold and that was an awful long time ago to count as proper dress now." Her eyes trailed off as she began thinking, a scholars mind quickly shining though them.

"I'm sure Starfire can help you find something tomor-" he stopped himself and sighed. It was already past six a.m. Where had all the time went. Then again, they hadn't got back until late. "Today."

"Your planet has twenty-four hour days, correct?"

"Yep," he said, grabbing a can of white paint to do patch up jobs before breakfast. He didn't have time to finish waxing.

"What do you all eat for breakfast and when?"

"Are you hungry?" he smirked, not looking up from his work.

"A little. I honestly don't know if my body could hold solid food quite yet. I'm trying to see how things work around here. Call me nosy."

"More like you like to know how things work so to use them to your best advantage."

"You make it sound like I'm evil."

"Nah, your bro. just warned us..." he stopped, realizing he probably just earned Keevor a good yelling session. "Don't tell Key I told ya." He dropped his brush. You could have fried an egg on his head.

"Sure thing. Would you like me to get that for you?"

"I got it," he grumbled, reaching into the gears.

Slowly, the tool floated out of the circuits in front of his face. Swiping it out of the air he turned and faced her. "Did you do that?"

"Yep. If you had to stick your hand all the way in there, you would have hand to tighten everything up again."

"I... didn't know."

"It's nothing remarkable. I can't create metal, and I can't shift it from its made form without ramming something into it. Just move it."

"It 's great! I'd be able to get things done twice as fast if I could just do that."

"Until you do it in public and everyone stares at you like your a loon."

"Wouldn't bother me. They already do that. Take it Atraforns don't approve."

"Bingo," Nevaka said dryly, the sound of her sliding off her seat reaching his ears.

"Is there a reason your hair is identical to Keevor's?"

'The shade is natural. The cut is a family thing. When member hits four-teen they are expected to take in the hail style of the family. It's an easy way to identify someone and tradition. Honestly I'm surprised my captors didn't cut it off.

"Can I make breakfast?" she asked suddenly. It was obvious that the adopted Atraforn wasn't comfortable with this subject.

"Sure thing," he replied without thinking. Then Starfire's tastes shadowed his memory. "I should show you what we eat here though."

"That would be nice," she said.

When he turned and faced her, she was smiling. And in a bed sheet. "After we get you some clothes."

Nevaka just laughed an odd laugh that seemed to have a metallic ring. It was kind on the ears.


End file.
